Tag Archives: candy buffet

This Candyland theme was inspired by Mary, a dear lady who passed on long ago, but left her inimitable words of wisdom with me, “life is uncertain, eat dessert first,”…and she always did! So it is with her spirit of joie de vivre, that I unbound that creative kid within me that clamored for a sensory sugar high. To release your inner child, follow my 3 part DIY party decorating series (with easy project tutorials and free printables) as it’s a sure path to crafting your way to classic Candyland cuteness! Using some or all of the décor ideas (befitting kid’s birthdays, baby showers, and Christmas parties), you’ll be sure to delight the inner-child in your guests as well! While you’re at it, use my allergy friendly recipes and serving suggestions to fill your candy buffet quickly and easily. For now, let us escape to Candyland…

Craft your way to classic Candyland cuteness befitting birthdays, baby showers, and Christmas décor. This tutorial for a game board treat tower and easy buffet display are part three of a DIY party decorating series with easy projects and free printables. Using some or all of the ideas, you’ll be sure to delight the inner-child in all of your guests. Sweet!

These simple crafts all utilize the same teacher’s bulletin board banner strips in a licensed Candyland board-game pattern. I made two towers, wrapped six pots, covered two milk corrals and a bunch of food picks… and I still have many strips left over! All of this is from one package of super-cute and inexpensive banners that could not fit my theme more perfectly.

To cover food crates, all you need to do is measure the front width and cut a length off. Double a piece of tape onto itself to hold the cardstock in place during the party. Remove it to reuse later for another craft. One idea is to let the kiddos make thank you cards out of it.

Wrap a length of the banner to coordinate a plain metal bucket to your theme. Simply cut and tape the ends together.

Craft your way to classic Candyland cuteness befitting birthdays, baby showers, and Christmas décor. This tutorial for hard candy lanterns, candy ornaments, and conversation heart garlands are part two of a DIY party decorating series with easy projects and free printables. Using some or all of the ideas, you’ll be sure to delight the inner-child in all of your guests. Sweet!

Old-school paper lanterns may easily evolve into supersized hard candy confections with a few simple steps. Begin with any variety of sizes and colors (but choose lighter versions if you wish to light them). You can even find some in a candy swirl pattern like these red and white striped kinds in graduated sizes… or just start with white and add your own stripes. Craft paint is quicker, but marker works as well. Tie a loop of twine, ribbon, or fishing line to the top of each lantern to hang them by later.

Use a theme coordinating color of gift basket cellophane to wrap around each lantern. Be sure the ends overlap before cutting. I used opalescent pink so that the red stripes would show through as hot pink. This way I can reuse the lanterns later with a clear wrap as peppermint candies or without wrapping as striped beach balls in summer.

Tie a length of twine or ribbon to gather the cellophane at the lantern’s base. I actually used a pink and white yarn that mimics baker’s twine but is less expensive.

Pull the hanging cord straight out from the top of the lantern, and gather the cellophane around it. Pull the wrap taut around the sphere (like you would make a ponytail). Tie another bow around this end to secure it. (Note that you can now throw in some lit LED tea-light candles before closing it, but read on to find an easier way to light them.)

Cut off the excess cellophane from the “candy” ends so that it appears to be the right proportion.

You can set these on a table, integrate them into a display, or hang a grouping of various sizes to make a hanging centerpiece. I opted to hike up the chain of my chandelier with an S-hook to shorten it. (See a picture of how to do this here: Frozen Winter Wonderland Themed Christmas & New Year’s Eve Dinner Parties.) Then I attached the twine loops with a couple inches of wire to the chandelier at different levels. I turned the light on, and was immediately awash in a pink candy glow as the light filtered through the lanterns and cellophane. A plug-in up-light aimed squared at the lanterns will also cause them to glow in any location of your choosing. It’s much easier to do this rather than wait to light, close, and then hang your lanterns at the last minute. Of course, another option would be to purchase a light kit for each lantern then plug all those cords in… but who needs more trouble and expense?

The exact same method was employed to craft the hard candy ornaments using, well… ball ornaments.

The only difference was that I didn’t tie on twine hangers, because I elected to use them for table display instead. They would have been lovely hanging though. I can always add twine to string them on a tree or centerpiece later, because I intentionally left the round hanging eye stick out of the gathered wrap. It’s visually concealed by the cellophane.

I made “big rock candy mountains” out of lit white Christmas trees that appeared to glow from within. I then placed the “candy”ornaments on and around them.

Ribbon candy ornaments are another simple décor craft that can utilize bits of leftover ribbon or even old package wrapping for an eclectic mix. I used a portion of a giant roll from Costco that is actually reserved for another project. Real ribbon candy doesn’t have glitter and has stripes facing the other way, but I thought they were adorable anyway.

To make these, just hot glue a line onto the ribbon’s end, and tap it down to form a loop.

Keep repeating this action, forming more and more loops, until you reach a size that seems proportionate to a candy dimension.

Cut off the end, and glue it down to form the last loop.

Next, add a hanger if you’d like to. I used the same thin ribbon as the banner in part one of the Candyland craft series. Make a loop through one loop end of the “candy” and tie a knot. (This seems to be a much safer option, than metal hooks, around small children and pets.)

Hang these from Christmas trees, add them to a candy lantern display, or set them around a centerpiece like my “big rock candy mountains”. The “icing” bases in the picture were comprised of blankets of buffalo snow batting.

PicMonkey Photo Editing:

Blurb Book Publishing:

Purple Trail Invitations:

Born Shoes:

Dayspring Cards & Gifts:

TeaVivre:

Teatullia:

Green Kid Crafts:

Art of Tea:

Blick Art Materials:

Blitsy Arts:

Beau-Coup Party Favors:

Oriental Decor:

Prepared Pantry:

Ultimate Green Store:

Matcha Tea Source:

Crayola:

Eco Lunchbox:

Oriental Trading Party Goods:

Fredericksburg TX Farms:

Bluprint Online Classes:

Disclosure Policy- Oct 2014 to Present:

Le fidèLe Designs website is primarily written and edited by Leigh N. Eldred personally. It accepts forms of compensation, to include affiliate linking, that may influence content which may not always be identified, but honest views and opinions are always given on those topics or products. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party in question. This website avoids any content which might present a conflict of interest.